Less glibly: IMO TIE Fighter improved on X-Wing in every respect - not least in terms of mission design. X-Wing had too many missions that you could only survive if you were prescient... or if you'd played the mission several times before and knew exactly where each wave would come from. TIE Fighter still had puzzley missions, but they didn't favour luck, guesswork or reading a mission guide to the same extent. X-Wing often felt unfair; TIE Fighter much less so.
God yes. Tour 1, Mission 4.
Yes, I remember that fucking mission number. There's a disabled Nebulon medical frigate that needs to be evacuated by shuttles coming in and transferring casualties.
Star Destroyers pop in on alternating sides of it and fart out TIE Bombers and you have to haul ass like a madman between the incoming waves and pray that you can actually take them out.
There's an easy way to complete that one as well. Order the three shuttles to retreat and they immediately disappear into hyperspace, leaving you with just the Korolev to protect.
I grew up really spoiled with toys, but the target of my affections was Jurassic Park, with Aliens probably in second place, and Star Wars was a distant third. I had the best Jurassic Park stuff, oh my god. There was a big playset that came with lengths of plastic electric fencing and the iconic Jurassic Park gate:
Anyway this was basically a humble brag post but I do want to point out my favorite Star Wars toy that hasn't come up yet, and that's the Rancor that was correctly to scale with the typical Star Wars dudes coming out in the 90s, and came with Luke in his black get up and even the bone that he uses to jam the thing's mouth open:
That thing was fucking sweet and I think I might even still have the rancor bumming around somewhere in a storage box.
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Handsome CostanzaAsk me about 8bitdoRIP Iwata-sanRegistered Userregular
edited April 2018
My childhood?
My childhood was filled with Action.. Fleet, baby!
Edit: also that Slave 1 with the handle on the back of it.
I don't understand. No matter how bad the production news was, nor how much I could not give less shits about Han Solo, those trailers still get me excited. No matter the complaints I've had regarding the Disney Star Wars, they really nail the aesthetic. They've sold me a ticket.
I grew up really spoiled with toys, but the target of my affections was Jurassic Park, with Aliens probably in second place, and Star Wars was a distant third. I had the best Jurassic Park stuff, oh my god. There was a big playset that came with lengths of plastic electric fencing and the iconic Jurassic Park gate:
Anyway this was basically a humble brag post but I do want to point out my favorite Star Wars toy that hasn't come up yet, and that's the Rancor that was correctly to scale with the typical Star Wars dudes coming out in the 90s, and came with Luke in his black get up and even the bone that he uses to jam the thing's mouth open:
That thing was fucking sweet and I think I might even still have the rancor bumming around somewhere in a storage box.
I have that Rancor set sitting in my garage. The Target exclusive one is much nicer, and sitting in my closet.
Less glibly: IMO TIE Fighter improved on X-Wing in every respect - not least in terms of mission design. X-Wing had too many missions that you could only survive if you were prescient... or if you'd played the mission several times before and knew exactly where each wave would come from. TIE Fighter still had puzzley missions, but they didn't favour luck, guesswork or reading a mission guide to the same extent. X-Wing often felt unfair; TIE Fighter much less so.
Did someone say TIE Fighter? Because I'm pretty sure I heard someone say TIE Fighter.
I would add, aside from much improved mission design (which in turn is improved in X-Wing Alliance, though not as drastically as one would've expected), TIE Fighter had some extremely visible engine improvements (like gouraud shading) and general audio improvements. Though since both games were re-released out the wazoo, it's easy to miss that change (in fact, one of the first X-Wing re-releases was to put it in the TIE Fighter engine update). Flight AI was also substantially improved (in the sense "it is not so absurdly stupid" as in X-Wing, just fairly stupid).
Basically, TIE Fighter is better than X-Wing, so much so that the later got numerous updates to take things from the former.
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Handsome CostanzaAsk me about 8bitdoRIP Iwata-sanRegistered Userregular
Also it's not the one from my childhood, but I do still have that Action Fleet Snowspeeder:
I remember those "action fleet" sets fondly in large part because quite a few of them were properly scaled.
Or at least more than anything other merchandise.
I liked the action fleet toys that came with a smaller version of the ship based off the original concept art. It was pretty cool seeing how a design would evolve.
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Librarian's ghostLibrarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSporkRegistered Userregular
I have most of the Action Fleet stuff. Including a full flight of four TIE Fighters. They are so cool.
TIE Fighter had some extremely visible engine improvements (like gouraud shading)...
I have to say that I never really liked the gouraud shading in TIE Fighter all that much, mainly because it suggested a roundness that didn't fit. Other than the globular TIE Fighters and the curvy Mon Calamari cruisers, the majority of Star Wars crafts are angular. What was missing in X-Wing (and generally in early vector-based graphics) were details, not curvature. I don't know whether texturing was feasible at the time, but textures might have done more for the overall look of the game than gouraud shading did.
Not that this took away from the game in any way. TIE Fighter ruled.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
TIE Fighter had some extremely visible engine improvements (like gouraud shading)...
I have to say that I never really liked the gouraud shading in TIE Fighter all that much, mainly because it suggested a roundness that didn't fit. Other than the globular TIE Fighters and the curvy Mon Calamari cruisers, the majority of Star Wars crafts are angular. What was missing in X-Wing (and generally in early vector-based graphics) were details, not curvature. I don't know whether texturing was feasible at the time, but textures might have done more for the overall look of the game than gouraud shading did.
Not that this took away from the game in any way. TIE Fighter ruled.
Honestly, I'd say it was most correctly employed on large, rather stationary objects (and some of the rounder Rebel cruisers and Imperial picket ships, as you said)--and a lot less on fighters. Asteroids and star bases, both of which the series had in ugly abundance. One of the earlier times I returned to the game after it first came out, and some progress had been made with real-time lighting, etc., in the likes of the Descent sequels and others, I was less impressed, but X-Wing does look worse without it.
All this talk of Star Wars video games and no mention of the best series (ie - Dark Forces) is shameful.
Which was your favourite game of the series? I have to admit that I missed Dark Forces (though I played the hell out of the demo), but I loved Jedi Knight. While JK2 looked infinitely better, I still preferred the earlier game and its level design. Might've been different if I'd started with JK2, but Jedi Knight's Nar Shaddaa will always have a special place in my heart.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Dark Forces suffers from being one of the most prolific "Hey, do you know the switch to this door as at the end of a puzzle corridor three floors down on the other end of the level?" shooters. I love it, but some of the puzzles, especially in the first one, are stupid as hell and needed to die ("Hey, do you know the combination to this locked door is in a tower ten minutes away, spread across three dimly lit walls that have remotely controlled light switches?"). DF2 moved slightly away from that, and JK2 further away in turn.
They can't be the best Star Wars games of all time for that reason alone, even if they were among some of the best FPS of the age.
There are versions of X-Wing and Tie Fighter with the XvT textures.
There's a Total Conversion of TIE Fighter for X-Wing Alliance. I've never played it, mind you; I'm not even sure if X-Wing Alliance works okay on modern PCs.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
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SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
There are versions of X-Wing and Tie Fighter with the XvT textures.
There's a Total Conversion of TIE Fighter for X-Wing Alliance. I've never played it, mind you; I'm not even sure if X-Wing Alliance works okay on modern PCs.
It does. There’s a version on GOG and I think Steam that works.
Edit: I don’t know how easy it is to mod, but I think it worked because I bought it but haven’t gotten around to trying it out because my joystick broke and I don’t yet have a new one.
There are versions of X-Wing and Tie Fighter with the XvT textures.
There's a Total Conversion of TIE Fighter for X-Wing Alliance. I've never played it, mind you; I'm not even sure if X-Wing Alliance works okay on modern PCs.
I used to pimp it out on the forums many years ago--it worked reasonably well, but at this point, I think you might as well accept that the game will look incredibly dated and play the '95 version of it rather than the awkward implementation into the XWA engine. It's clearly a work of love, and some parts of it are artistic masterpieces (the easy implementation of ship models that are beyond the level of effort LucasArts could reasonably ever put into the game), but it has more than its share if issues and is still limited by XWA's age as well.
Dark Forces suffers from being one of the most prolific "Hey, do you know the switch to this door as at the end of a puzzle corridor three floors down on the other end of the level?" shooters. I love it, but some of the puzzles, especially in the first one, are stupid as hell and needed to die ("Hey, do you know the combination to this locked door is in a tower ten minutes away, spread across three dimly lit walls that have remotely controlled light switches?"). DF2 moved slightly away from that, and JK2 further away in turn.
They can't be the best Star Wars games of all time for that reason alone, even if they were among some of the best FPS of the age.
I don't even understand this as a complaint honestly. FPS puzzles are basically always "go here and shoot the mans" and that's the whole point.
All this talk of Star Wars video games and no mention of the best series (ie - Dark Forces) is shameful.
Which was your favourite game of the series? I have to admit that I missed Dark Forces (though I played the hell out of the demo), but I loved Jedi Knight. While JK2 looked infinitely better, I still preferred the earlier game and its level design. Might've been different if I'd started with JK2, but Jedi Knight's Nar Shaddaa will always have a special place in my heart.
There's pros and cons to them all but I think in the end I gotta give it to Jedi Outcast. It's got the best mix of story, pacing, level design and combat system.
Like, I think perhaps Jedi Knight has better level design and overall structure, with it's series of boss fights and the like, but Jedi Outcast's combat is just way better. Jedi Academy improves on the combat options but I think everything else about it is sadly a pale shadow of it's predecessor.
And the original Dark Forces is awesome for it's time but I can't murder anyone with the Force and so it just by definition can't be the best.
If murdering people with the Force is the test, then Force Unleashed would be the best game. It was ridiculous and awesome how much Force enhanced killing you got to do in that game. (Then Force Unleashed 2 came out and it was too ridiculous and made the game garbage.)
Dark Forces suffers from being one of the most prolific "Hey, do you know the switch to this door as at the end of a puzzle corridor three floors down on the other end of the level?" shooters. I love it, but some of the puzzles, especially in the first one, are stupid as hell and needed to die ("Hey, do you know the combination to this locked door is in a tower ten minutes away, spread across three dimly lit walls that have remotely controlled light switches?"). DF2 moved slightly away from that, and JK2 further away in turn.
They can't be the best Star Wars games of all time for that reason alone, even if they were among some of the best FPS of the age.
I don't even understand this as a complaint honestly. FPS puzzles are basically always "go here and shoot the mans" and that's the whole point.
The complaint is that the use of this mechanic isn't always successful in games, and is particularly stupidly applied in what is otherwise a great game ("Oh, exactly what I wanted--a break from the fun shooting to go pixel hunting for a switch in a completely different part of a level.") Dark Forces is still a lot of fun, but it's not hard to understand why hitting a literal wall with the gunplay to retrace your steps and squint at unlit walls looking for a particular symbol pattern isn't a great implementation of it.
Dark Forces suffers from being one of the most prolific "Hey, do you know the switch to this door as at the end of a puzzle corridor three floors down on the other end of the level?" shooters. I love it, but some of the puzzles, especially in the first one, are stupid as hell and needed to die ("Hey, do you know the combination to this locked door is in a tower ten minutes away, spread across three dimly lit walls that have remotely controlled light switches?"). DF2 moved slightly away from that, and JK2 further away in turn.
They can't be the best Star Wars games of all time for that reason alone, even if they were among some of the best FPS of the age.
I don't even understand this as a complaint honestly. FPS puzzles are basically always "go here and shoot the mans" and that's the whole point.
The complaint is that the use of this mechanic isn't always successful in games, and is particularly stupidly applied in what is otherwise a great game ("Oh, exactly what I wanted--a break from the fun shooting to go pixel hunting for a switch in a completely different part of a level.") Dark Forces is still a lot of fun, but it's not hard to understand why hitting a literal wall with the gunplay to retrace your steps and squint at unlit walls looking for a particular symbol pattern isn't a great implementation of it.
Dark Forces suffers from being one of the most prolific "Hey, do you know the switch to this door as at the end of a puzzle corridor three floors down on the other end of the level?" shooters. I love it, but some of the puzzles, especially in the first one, are stupid as hell and needed to die ("Hey, do you know the combination to this locked door is in a tower ten minutes away, spread across three dimly lit walls that have remotely controlled light switches?"). DF2 moved slightly away from that, and JK2 further away in turn.
They can't be the best Star Wars games of all time for that reason alone, even if they were among some of the best FPS of the age.
I don't even understand this as a complaint honestly. FPS puzzles are basically always "go here and shoot the mans" and that's the whole point.
The complaint is that the use of this mechanic isn't always successful in games, and is particularly stupidly applied in what is otherwise a great game ("Oh, exactly what I wanted--a break from the fun shooting to go pixel hunting for a switch in a completely different part of a level.") Dark Forces is still a lot of fun, but it's not hard to understand why hitting a literal wall with the gunplay to retrace your steps and squint at unlit walls looking for a particular symbol pattern isn't a great implementation of it.
That fucking sewer level, my god.
Doesn't Jedi Outcast (or is it Jedi Academy) actually have Kyle Katarn bitch about doing exactly that? Something to the effect of, "Great, a locked door. And knowing our luck, the switch is going to be twenty floors down in completely different building behind some other locked door."
If murdering people with the Force is the test, then Force Unleashed would be the best game. It was ridiculous and awesome how much Force enhanced killing you got to do in that game. (Then Force Unleashed 2 came out and it was too ridiculous and made the game garbage.)
It's not the test, it's merely a bar that must be cleared.
Dark Forces suffers from being one of the most prolific "Hey, do you know the switch to this door as at the end of a puzzle corridor three floors down on the other end of the level?" shooters. I love it, but some of the puzzles, especially in the first one, are stupid as hell and needed to die ("Hey, do you know the combination to this locked door is in a tower ten minutes away, spread across three dimly lit walls that have remotely controlled light switches?"). DF2 moved slightly away from that, and JK2 further away in turn.
They can't be the best Star Wars games of all time for that reason alone, even if they were among some of the best FPS of the age.
I don't even understand this as a complaint honestly. FPS puzzles are basically always "go here and shoot the mans" and that's the whole point.
The complaint is that the use of this mechanic isn't always successful in games, and is particularly stupidly applied in what is otherwise a great game ("Oh, exactly what I wanted--a break from the fun shooting to go pixel hunting for a switch in a completely different part of a level.") Dark Forces is still a lot of fun, but it's not hard to understand why hitting a literal wall with the gunplay to retrace your steps and squint at unlit walls looking for a particular symbol pattern isn't a great implementation of it.
You mean the original Dark Forces? It's a mid-90s FPS. That basically was the gameplay back then. Although clearly the original is not the highlight of the series regardless and the rest of the series more then makes them the best SW games.
Dark Forces suffers from being one of the most prolific "Hey, do you know the switch to this door as at the end of a puzzle corridor three floors down on the other end of the level?" shooters. I love it, but some of the puzzles, especially in the first one, are stupid as hell and needed to die ("Hey, do you know the combination to this locked door is in a tower ten minutes away, spread across three dimly lit walls that have remotely controlled light switches?"). DF2 moved slightly away from that, and JK2 further away in turn.
They can't be the best Star Wars games of all time for that reason alone, even if they were among some of the best FPS of the age.
I don't even understand this as a complaint honestly. FPS puzzles are basically always "go here and shoot the mans" and that's the whole point.
The complaint is that the use of this mechanic isn't always successful in games, and is particularly stupidly applied in what is otherwise a great game ("Oh, exactly what I wanted--a break from the fun shooting to go pixel hunting for a switch in a completely different part of a level.") Dark Forces is still a lot of fun, but it's not hard to understand why hitting a literal wall with the gunplay to retrace your steps and squint at unlit walls looking for a particular symbol pattern isn't a great implementation of it.
You mean the original Dark Forces? It's a mid-90s FPS. That basically was the gameplay back then. Although clearly the original is not the highlight of the series regardless and the rest of the series more then makes them the best SW games.
The better part of the gameplay was the cover-to-cover shooting and hallway strafing, which was strong enough to stand on its own even with the basic weapons (you also often got longer engagement distances than contemporary games in the genre thanks to the level architecture). You don't need to waste time searching in a "sewer" for the switch to another switch--and clearly LucasArts felt the same way, since JK eased up substantially on it.
Dark Forces suffers from being one of the most prolific "Hey, do you know the switch to this door as at the end of a puzzle corridor three floors down on the other end of the level?" shooters. I love it, but some of the puzzles, especially in the first one, are stupid as hell and needed to die ("Hey, do you know the combination to this locked door is in a tower ten minutes away, spread across three dimly lit walls that have remotely controlled light switches?"). DF2 moved slightly away from that, and JK2 further away in turn.
They can't be the best Star Wars games of all time for that reason alone, even if they were among some of the best FPS of the age.
I don't even understand this as a complaint honestly. FPS puzzles are basically always "go here and shoot the mans" and that's the whole point.
The complaint is that the use of this mechanic isn't always successful in games, and is particularly stupidly applied in what is otherwise a great game ("Oh, exactly what I wanted--a break from the fun shooting to go pixel hunting for a switch in a completely different part of a level.") Dark Forces is still a lot of fun, but it's not hard to understand why hitting a literal wall with the gunplay to retrace your steps and squint at unlit walls looking for a particular symbol pattern isn't a great implementation of it.
That fucking sewer level, my god.
Sewer levels are usually all kinds of awful, Star Wars games being no exception to this. Shadows of the Empire's was all kinds of irritating - though I did enjoy the self-awareness of sending you to a literal trash planet.
Dark Forces suffers from being one of the most prolific "Hey, do you know the switch to this door as at the end of a puzzle corridor three floors down on the other end of the level?" shooters. I love it, but some of the puzzles, especially in the first one, are stupid as hell and needed to die ("Hey, do you know the combination to this locked door is in a tower ten minutes away, spread across three dimly lit walls that have remotely controlled light switches?"). DF2 moved slightly away from that, and JK2 further away in turn.
They can't be the best Star Wars games of all time for that reason alone, even if they were among some of the best FPS of the age.
I don't even understand this as a complaint honestly. FPS puzzles are basically always "go here and shoot the mans" and that's the whole point.
The complaint is that the use of this mechanic isn't always successful in games, and is particularly stupidly applied in what is otherwise a great game ("Oh, exactly what I wanted--a break from the fun shooting to go pixel hunting for a switch in a completely different part of a level.") Dark Forces is still a lot of fun, but it's not hard to understand why hitting a literal wall with the gunplay to retrace your steps and squint at unlit walls looking for a particular symbol pattern isn't a great implementation of it.
That fucking sewer level, my god.
Sewer levels are usually all kinds of awful, Star Wars games being no exception to this. Shadows of the Empire's was all kinds of irritating - though I did enjoy the self-awareness of sending you to a literal trash planet.
Shadows of the Empire's own brand of self-awareness anyway--you're Han Solo but not the Han Solo. Though the novel is responsible for that more than the game I would imagine.
Dark Forces suffers from being one of the most prolific "Hey, do you know the switch to this door as at the end of a puzzle corridor three floors down on the other end of the level?" shooters. I love it, but some of the puzzles, especially in the first one, are stupid as hell and needed to die ("Hey, do you know the combination to this locked door is in a tower ten minutes away, spread across three dimly lit walls that have remotely controlled light switches?"). DF2 moved slightly away from that, and JK2 further away in turn.
They can't be the best Star Wars games of all time for that reason alone, even if they were among some of the best FPS of the age.
I don't even understand this as a complaint honestly. FPS puzzles are basically always "go here and shoot the mans" and that's the whole point.
The complaint is that the use of this mechanic isn't always successful in games, and is particularly stupidly applied in what is otherwise a great game ("Oh, exactly what I wanted--a break from the fun shooting to go pixel hunting for a switch in a completely different part of a level.") Dark Forces is still a lot of fun, but it's not hard to understand why hitting a literal wall with the gunplay to retrace your steps and squint at unlit walls looking for a particular symbol pattern isn't a great implementation of it.
That fucking sewer level, my god.
Sewer levels are usually all kinds of awful, Star Wars games being no exception to this. Shadows of the Empire's was all kinds of irritating - though I did enjoy the self-awareness of sending you to a literal trash planet.
Shadows of the Empire's own brand of self-awareness anyway--you're Han Solo but not the Han Solo. Though the novel is responsible for that more than the game I would imagine.
The novel consentrates on Luke mainly with the other trilogy characters in support. Dash is a side character.
Dark Forces suffers from being one of the most prolific "Hey, do you know the switch to this door as at the end of a puzzle corridor three floors down on the other end of the level?" shooters. I love it, but some of the puzzles, especially in the first one, are stupid as hell and needed to die ("Hey, do you know the combination to this locked door is in a tower ten minutes away, spread across three dimly lit walls that have remotely controlled light switches?"). DF2 moved slightly away from that, and JK2 further away in turn.
They can't be the best Star Wars games of all time for that reason alone, even if they were among some of the best FPS of the age.
I don't even understand this as a complaint honestly. FPS puzzles are basically always "go here and shoot the mans" and that's the whole point.
The complaint is that the use of this mechanic isn't always successful in games, and is particularly stupidly applied in what is otherwise a great game ("Oh, exactly what I wanted--a break from the fun shooting to go pixel hunting for a switch in a completely different part of a level.") Dark Forces is still a lot of fun, but it's not hard to understand why hitting a literal wall with the gunplay to retrace your steps and squint at unlit walls looking for a particular symbol pattern isn't a great implementation of it.
That fucking sewer level, my god.
Sewer levels are usually all kinds of awful, Star Wars games being no exception to this. Shadows of the Empire's was all kinds of irritating - though I did enjoy the self-awareness of sending you to a literal trash planet.
Shadows of the Empire's own brand of self-awareness anyway--you're Han Solo but not the Han Solo. Though the novel is responsible for that more than the game I would imagine.
The novel consentrates on Luke mainly with the other trilogy characters in support. Dash is a side character.
That makes more sense--though unless I'm imagining it, there is a part where Leia reflects on how weirdly much Dash resembles Han.
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Handsome CostanzaAsk me about 8bitdoRIP Iwata-sanRegistered Userregular
I remember those "action fleet" sets fondly in large part because quite a few of them were properly scaled.
Or at least more than anything other merchandise.
I liked the action fleet toys that came with a smaller version of the ship based off the original concept art. It was pretty cool seeing how a design would evolve.
Series Alpha!
I've been meaning to track some of those down. I love concept art stuff.
Oh man, I picked up Dark Forces and though I was being an idiot in that sewer level. So glad to know it is infamous.
I played Dark Forces as soon as it came out, the sewer level haunts me to this day. Not only is it jam-packed with horrid-looking mid-90s textures with a nonsensical map layout, it's also dark and filled with monsters. Well, one monster.
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There's an easy way to complete that one as well. Order the three shuttles to retreat and they immediately disappear into hyperspace, leaving you with just the Korolev to protect.
Dispatch from Planet Abrams on Episode IX. Second unit director is Vic Mahoney.
I don’t know anything about her but always nice to see the broadening of perspectives coming to the biggest canvas possible.
Anyway this was basically a humble brag post but I do want to point out my favorite Star Wars toy that hasn't come up yet, and that's the Rancor that was correctly to scale with the typical Star Wars dudes coming out in the 90s, and came with Luke in his black get up and even the bone that he uses to jam the thing's mouth open:
That thing was fucking sweet and I think I might even still have the rancor bumming around somewhere in a storage box.
My childhood was filled with Action.. Fleet, baby!
Edit: also that Slave 1 with the handle on the back of it.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
I have that Rancor set sitting in my garage. The Target exclusive one is much nicer, and sitting in my closet.
3DS: 1521-4165-5907
PS3: KayleSolo
Live: Kayle Solo
WiiU: KayleSolo
Did someone say TIE Fighter? Because I'm pretty sure I heard someone say TIE Fighter.
I would add, aside from much improved mission design (which in turn is improved in X-Wing Alliance, though not as drastically as one would've expected), TIE Fighter had some extremely visible engine improvements (like gouraud shading) and general audio improvements. Though since both games were re-released out the wazoo, it's easy to miss that change (in fact, one of the first X-Wing re-releases was to put it in the TIE Fighter engine update). Flight AI was also substantially improved (in the sense "it is not so absurdly stupid" as in X-Wing, just fairly stupid).
Basically, TIE Fighter is better than X-Wing, so much so that the later got numerous updates to take things from the former.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
Or at least more than anything other merchandise.
I liked the action fleet toys that came with a smaller version of the ship based off the original concept art. It was pretty cool seeing how a design would evolve.
Not that this took away from the game in any way. TIE Fighter ruled.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Honestly, I'd say it was most correctly employed on large, rather stationary objects (and some of the rounder Rebel cruisers and Imperial picket ships, as you said)--and a lot less on fighters. Asteroids and star bases, both of which the series had in ugly abundance. One of the earlier times I returned to the game after it first came out, and some progress had been made with real-time lighting, etc., in the likes of the Descent sequels and others, I was less impressed, but X-Wing does look worse without it.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
They can't be the best Star Wars games of all time for that reason alone, even if they were among some of the best FPS of the age.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
It does. There’s a version on GOG and I think Steam that works.
Edit: I don’t know how easy it is to mod, but I think it worked because I bought it but haven’t gotten around to trying it out because my joystick broke and I don’t yet have a new one.
I used to pimp it out on the forums many years ago--it worked reasonably well, but at this point, I think you might as well accept that the game will look incredibly dated and play the '95 version of it rather than the awkward implementation into the XWA engine. It's clearly a work of love, and some parts of it are artistic masterpieces (the easy implementation of ship models that are beyond the level of effort LucasArts could reasonably ever put into the game), but it has more than its share if issues and is still limited by XWA's age as well.
I don't even understand this as a complaint honestly. FPS puzzles are basically always "go here and shoot the mans" and that's the whole point.
There's pros and cons to them all but I think in the end I gotta give it to Jedi Outcast. It's got the best mix of story, pacing, level design and combat system.
Like, I think perhaps Jedi Knight has better level design and overall structure, with it's series of boss fights and the like, but Jedi Outcast's combat is just way better. Jedi Academy improves on the combat options but I think everything else about it is sadly a pale shadow of it's predecessor.
And the original Dark Forces is awesome for it's time but I can't murder anyone with the Force and so it just by definition can't be the best.
The complaint is that the use of this mechanic isn't always successful in games, and is particularly stupidly applied in what is otherwise a great game ("Oh, exactly what I wanted--a break from the fun shooting to go pixel hunting for a switch in a completely different part of a level.") Dark Forces is still a lot of fun, but it's not hard to understand why hitting a literal wall with the gunplay to retrace your steps and squint at unlit walls looking for a particular symbol pattern isn't a great implementation of it.
That fucking sewer level, my god.
Doesn't Jedi Outcast (or is it Jedi Academy) actually have Kyle Katarn bitch about doing exactly that? Something to the effect of, "Great, a locked door. And knowing our luck, the switch is going to be twenty floors down in completely different building behind some other locked door."
It's not the test, it's merely a bar that must be cleared.
You mean the original Dark Forces? It's a mid-90s FPS. That basically was the gameplay back then. Although clearly the original is not the highlight of the series regardless and the rest of the series more then makes them the best SW games.
The better part of the gameplay was the cover-to-cover shooting and hallway strafing, which was strong enough to stand on its own even with the basic weapons (you also often got longer engagement distances than contemporary games in the genre thanks to the level architecture). You don't need to waste time searching in a "sewer" for the switch to another switch--and clearly LucasArts felt the same way, since JK eased up substantially on it.
Sewer levels are usually all kinds of awful, Star Wars games being no exception to this. Shadows of the Empire's was all kinds of irritating - though I did enjoy the self-awareness of sending you to a literal trash planet.
Shadows of the Empire's own brand of self-awareness anyway--you're Han Solo but not the Han Solo. Though the novel is responsible for that more than the game I would imagine.
The novel consentrates on Luke mainly with the other trilogy characters in support. Dash is a side character.
That makes more sense--though unless I'm imagining it, there is a part where Leia reflects on how weirdly much Dash resembles Han.
Series Alpha!
I've been meaning to track some of those down. I love concept art stuff.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
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I played Dark Forces as soon as it came out, the sewer level haunts me to this day. Not only is it jam-packed with horrid-looking mid-90s textures with a nonsensical map layout, it's also dark and filled with monsters. Well, one monster.